The Hypnotist's Blindfolded Drive
Professor McEwen demonstrates his 'powers' by driving a horse-drawn sleigh through the streets of Walla Walla to locate a hidden item.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Professor McEwen, the Scotch hypnotist, made a successful blindfold drive through the streets of Walla Walla today and found a book which had been hidden by a committee of citizens. Two of the committee took the article from the Star Theater, carried it to Hatch's shoe store, and hid it under an old box in the repairing room. McEwen was blindfolded, jumped into a sleigh, and after driving down Main to Fifth, on Fifth to Alder, thence up that street to Third and over to Main, stopped in front of Hatch's store. He jumped out, went into the store, rushed up the stairs to the repair room, and dug out the book. The event was a complete success and was witnessed by a large crowd.
“The spectacular event was a complete success, and was witnessed by a large crowd of interested spectators.”
Public demonstrations of hypnosis and 'mesmerism' were common theatrical spectacles in small towns of the early 20th century. While we view these as performance art today, they were often presented as scientific curiosities or supernatural displays in the era's press.
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